Thread: tell me what high school courses I'd have to take for Computer Repair/IT?

I know I'm not supposed to say this, but your High School classes don't really count/matter. But definitely STUDY and LEARN. Fix things. Break things and then fix them.
Don't worry about classes. I have been doing this for ten years now. When I apply for a job they look at my education: "High School Diploma" and my experience: (all sorts of cool shit). Then they ask me about what I know. The important thing is that you know your shit. If you can keep up with them in a tech talk conversation, you're golden for some jobs. Some jobs require education and/or certifications. None of them really look at your High School stuff, as long as you have a diploma.

if you don't mind me asking, what "sorts of cool shit" are we talking about?

Study and Learn (what,exactly?), huh? Simple enough.

Don't fool around, is that what your saying?

I'm not sure as to how much I know. I know a lot regarding computers. (at least I think)

Computer repair and IT are two very different things. Computer repair tends to be oriented towards regular consumers, ie: Windows and low to mid end hardware. IT tends to deal with enterprise computers and servers, ie: *nix, networking, and server hardware. Same concept, very different skill sets. IT is much higher skilled, and tends to get paid much better. We have three IT guys in just our US office, no repair guys at all.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Computer repair and IT are two very different things. Computer repair tends to be oriented towards regular consumers, ie: Windows and low to mid end hardware. IT tends to deal with enterprise computers and servers, ie: *nix, networking, and server hardware. Same concept, very different skill sets. IT is much higher skilled, and tends to get paid much better. We have three IT guys in just our US office, no repair guys at all.

That sounds difficult and complicated. what is *nix?
The only thing I've networked is my laptop and desktop to share files and networked one printer.

I am a veteran, which helps.
I was once part of a seven man team that handled ten thousand email accounts.
I designed and built the computer network, from scratch, for four different high schools, and was network administrator of two others.
I built top secret servers and maintained them, as well as established encrypted top secret email accounts.
I've also worked for hospitals and other government agencies.

I sell myself better on my resume, of course. That was sorta cliff's noted. lol
The way that I got started was by offering my services for free. It's not easy to do. I knew they would give me a chance if I was free. I have no college. I'm not suggesting that route. lol So, I volunteered as much as I could. One organization talked to another organization... I got to know people... eventually someone hired me. From there it was pretty easy.
It's very important to be able to sell yourself, though. That's true with any job. I think charisma is key. I have landed every job that I have ever interviewed for, and I don't know if that is luck or not, but I have always felt that your attitude, appearance, and confidence is very important.

If you REALLY want to become marketable, go into the military and do a quick four years (I know. I know.) They will pay for your college. Then go get a job.

It seems you know your stuff.
I definitely have a lot to learn.

Military...I think it may be a little too late for that.

Originally Posted by ninja9578

Computer repair and IT are two very different things. Computer repair tends to be oriented towards regular consumers, ie: Windows and low to mid end hardware. IT tends to deal with enterprise computers and servers, ie: *nix, networking, and server hardware. Same concept, very different skill sets. IT is much higher skilled, and tends to get paid much better. We have three IT guys in just our US office, no repair guys at all.

Not everyone uses the same labels. I am desktop support, but they consider me to be IT, because I am the top tier of desktop support. Networking is LAN support, where I work. Then there's infrastructure, but I do all of that stuff too, as an "IT Tech"

Originally Posted by Yomi

It seems you know your stuff.
I definitely have a lot to learn.

Military...I think it may be a little too late for that.

Too late?

Well right now I'm pretty much at the end of my Junior Year of High School.

If that doesn't matter and if I consider the military route, what exactly would I have to do?

I didn't join the military until I was like twenty one.
You'd have to talk to a recruiter, choose a field, go through boot camp, then computer training, and then serve three and a half years. That, too, is heavily cliff's noted. lol

boot camp....
besides that the rest sounds like it could be relatively easy, but nothing is ever easy with the military is it?
exactly how much more of an edge would that give someone?

Alright... here we go...
Most things are easy in the military. I know that sounds like crap, but it's true.
Boot camp is not easy. Boot camp is eight weeks of hell. It's whole purpose is to teach you the basics, and to see how you react under pressure. It sucks ass.
It's also worth going through, for the reward that you'll get out of it. I promise.
I can't say for sure how much of an edge it would give you. I'm really no expert. I just know that every interview that I go into, it has been one of the first things that the employer has mentioned. It shows them that you can handle pressure, follow orders, follow through with things, and pay attention to detail (if they have ever been through it). (If they haven't been through it) it shows them that you are a veteran! lol They may not see it quite the same way, but they know that it is something to be proud of.
I'm not saying you should go through all of it just for the mark on your resume. I'm saying that it's a smart idea because of the mark on your resume, the college education, the training, the medical benefits for life, the life insurance policy, and the structure and stability it provides for four years.

I don't know. I'm not saying "YOU SHOULD DO THIS!"
I'm really just saying you should consider it.

Just be extremely careful if you go the military route. You may go in hoping to sign up to learn about computers and instead end up in Iraq for the next 4 years.

If you are worried about your grades or classes, and you have trouble getting into a collage, go to a community collage. At least no one is shooting at you there.

Yes, that is the common fear, isn't it. We have an AE Air Force now. This means that you are SUPPOSEDLY only deployed for about six months, once every four years. ... Or something like that.
I was never deployed.
There are exceptions, and people have found themselves deployed for ridiculous amounts of time, but it's not as common as people think.
Still, it is something to consider. I mean, the possibility is there. It's just not likely.
Alric is going to make it sound as if military=getting shot at. I never did, and NOBODY I KNEW (in the computer field) did either. Why are they going to put a computer technician out on the front lines?
"COVER ME! I'M GOING IN and CONFIGURING THIS TCP/IP PRINTER FOR FULL DUPLEX COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH A STATIC IP ADDRESS!"
Sure it's very possible. It's just not likely.

Originally Posted by Alric

Just be extremely careful if you go the military route. You may go in hoping to sign up to learn about computers and instead end up in Iraq for the next 4 years.

If you are worried about your grades or classes, and you have trouble getting into a collage, go to a community collage. At least no one is shooting at you there.

Well, if I knew anything about the Military being careful would be easy.
community collage.
Alric, are there any you'd recommend for Computer Repair?

sloth, what do you do at your place of work? Help outside people having PC problems?
Or do you help people at your job when their computer starts acting up?

If you just want to fix people's computers, just learn as much as you can, you don't even need a school. Look for some old exams from a couple of years back on University websites. If you can pass those exams, you can be a computer fixer. Just make some flyers, put them in everyone's mailbox in your area and wait for calls/e-mails.

Most of the time you will be fixing simple stuff. Most people just have no idea and would rather pay you $40/hour to fix it for them.

Originally Posted by tommo

If you just want to fix people's computers, just learn as much as you can, you don't even need a school. Look for some old exams from a couple of years back on University websites. If you can pass those exams, you can be a computer fixer. Just make some flyers, put them in everyone's mailbox in your area and wait for calls/e-mails.

Most of the time you will be fixing simple stuff. Most people just have no idea and would rather pay you $40/hour to fix it for them.

I tried the flyer approach twice. I get the feeling it just doesn't work too well here. (Cumberland,RI)
The past two times I tried I got nothing. I put some on telephone poles, a stop&shop and town hall. They all just disappeared. Any ideas?

$40/ a hour. Suppose that's a place to start. Though there is a geeksquad somewhat near me, along with a computer repair shop somewhat near my house. So maybe that's part of the problem.
I'd also like to do a more that just fix computers. I'd like to learn about Linux, and servers. Maybe see what that could do for me.

Would it really be practical though?

I lay new wiring. I setup new systems. I help design the way that the PCs and terminals are going to be set up. I do fix computers. I fix printers. I fix ... er.. replace switches. .
My job here is very limited, but that is because there are only seven of us. The seven of us handle all PCs and terminals in all two hundred government offices in the state.
In other jobs I have done all sorts of different things. It really depends on what your employer needs from you.

Originally Posted by sloth

I lay new wiring. I setup new systems. I help design the way that the PCs and terminals are going to be set up. I do fix computers. I fix printers. I fix ... er.. replace switches. .
My job here is very limited, but that is because there are only seven of us. The seven of us handle all PCs and terminals in all two hundred government offices in the state.
In other jobs I have done all sorts of different things. It really depends on what your employer needs from you.

That sounds like IT to me. I guess people do use different terms in different places. Where I work, "computer repair" is basically just a glorified virus sweeper and hardware swapper, basically... geek squad or an Apple Genius. Designing clusters is definitely IT.

Yomi, *nix is Linux and Unix. Large scale servers run them exclusively, usually Redhat. Some Fedora, z/OS, Solaris is in the mix too, but less popular.